Twin Cities Metal is dedicated to promoting live metal and hard rock in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Here you will find news, reviews, and photography of bands that play in the Twin Cities.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Click any of the pictures to see more photos of Loudness performing live (37).

Japanese greats Loudness did a rare U.S. tour in the
Spring of 2011 to celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary. This show was a late
addition to the initial batch of announced tour dates so this nearly missed my
attention. Loudness never broke through in the U.S. and hadn’t toured here in
over 20 years. I still remember all the hype in the mid-80s about guitarist
Akira Takasaki being the “Japanese Eddie Van Halen”, so my expectations were
high as I finally had a chance to see Loudness. The full show is at long last
here for you to download.

Local industrial
band As|Of opened the show followed
by Mommy Sez No, who filled in for
the last minute cancellations of Warmachine
and Dirty Passion. The club wasn’t
full, but there still was a good turnout by the time Loudness took the stage. As
the intro music played the only thing visible was the LED lights from Akira’s
fretboard before showcasing his shredding on the instrumental “Fire Of Spirit”.
Vocalist Minoru Niihara then ran out as they launched into “Hit The Rails” and
a crushing version of their most well-known song in the U.S., “Crazy Nights”. The
intensity never let up for an instant as the band tore through a selection of
songs from most stages of their long career. The guitarwork of Akira was simply
insane as his fingers flew all over the frets seemingly without effort. Other
highlights were the drum solo that led into “The King Of Pain” and the dramatic
“Shadows Of War (Ashes In The Sky)”. An encore of “Let It Go” and “S.D.I.”
closed out an amazing show.

This was easily one
of the best and most memorable concerts in the last few years. It was also up
there with Manowar as one of the loudest
concerts I’ve ever experienced. The band was in great spirits throughout the
night and fed off the rapturous crowd response. Loudness makes a return to the U.S. this month for a very limited run of dates that are not to be missed.

The download link is here. As always, please share, but share the link
to this post rather than the direct Mediafire link. Enjoy!

Loudness

Thunder At Ground Zero

May 19, 2011

Minneapolis, MN, Ground Zero

mp3@192 kbps, 109 MB zip file (artwork
included)

1. Intro/Fire Of
Spirit (6:02)

2. Hit The Rails
(4:36)

3. Crazy Nights
(6:13)

4. Heavy Chains
(5:12)

5. In The Mirror
(4:13)

6. Never Change Your
Mind (7:26)

7. Shadows Of War
(Ashes In The Sky) (8:35)

8. Get Away (6:38)

9. Black Star
Oblivion (4:20)

10. The King Of
Pain (6:58)

11. Crazy Doctor
(5:18)

12. Let It Go
(6:04)

13. S.D.I. (7:28)

Total time: 79:03

Loudness performs Saturday,
April 27 at the Hi Five Bar in Burnsville with support from Downtread.

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About Me

mplsmetal@yahoo.com
For a few years I published a metal/hard rock magazine that was distributed nationally through Desert Moon Distribution, Hot Topic, Tower Records, and Virgin Megastores. My real career took all my time so I ceased publication of the magazine.
Artists I have interviewed include Iron Maiden, Dio, Slipknot, Korn, Pantera, Danzig, Halford, David Coverdale, Incubus, and many, many others.
Bands I have photographed in a variety of settings (photoshoots, stadiums, arenas, clubs) include AC/DC, Metallica, Disturbed, Slipknot, Slash's Snakepit, Korn, Kid Rock, Machine Head, Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden, Dio, Pantera, Staind, Danzig, and dozens of others!